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Archive for August 17th, 2012
Texas will spray for West Nile virus despite fears of insecticide risks
Posted by Guardian: Tom Dart on August 17th, 2012
Guardian: Aerial spraying to combat the West Nile virus will continue tonight across north Texas despite the concerns of residents worried about potential health risks posed by the insecticide.
Dallas is the center of the worst West Nile outbreak in the US this year, which prompted local officials to declare a state of emergency on Wednesday and dispatch two airplanes to spray the city and surrounding areas last night.
The planes left Dallas' Executive Airport as planned at 10pm last night but were only...
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TransCanada Begins Construction of Southern Leg of Keystone Pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 17th, 2012
Yale Environment 360: The Canadian company, TransCanada, has begun construction on the U.S. leg of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, installing segments in east Texas even as the fate of the pipeline’s northern leg remains in question. Company officials confirmed that work began Aug. 9 on the section of the pipeline that will run from Oklahoma to Texas, just weeks after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the final construction permit. TransCanada, which ultimately hopes to build a pipeline to carry tar sands...
Brazil’s Belo Monte dam risks delay after court order
Posted by Reuters: http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02andd=20120817andt=2andi=643509877and on August 17th, 2012
Reuters: The opening of Brazil's $13 billion Belo Monte dam in the Amazon could be delayed if a court order requiring construction to stop is not overturned by December, the head of the consortium building the project said on Friday.
A regional judge called for an immediate halt to construction on Tuesday after years of high-profile criticism. The likes of Hollywood director James Cameron and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights have said Belo Monte would displace indigenous people in the Amazon rain...
Lessons from Manila floods on climate change, responses
Posted by Bay Area Indymedia: None Given on August 17th, 2012
Bay Area Indymedia: As the Philippine government dithered and made excuses for its grossly inadequate response to the catastrophic floods -- which inundated 80% of the country's capital, Manila -- Sonny Melencio was leading a grassroots relief effort that brought the first food supplies in days to some of the poorest and most badly affected communities.
Together with other activists from the Party of the Labouring Masses (PLM), Melencio went to urban poor communities along the flood-breached Marikina River with supplies...
Record Heat, Drought Pose Problems for U.S. Electric Power
Posted by National Geographic: Joe Eaton on August 17th, 2012
National Geographic: Record heat and drought conditions across the United States this summer have plagued power plants that require cool water to produce electricity.
From Connecticut to California, high water temperatures and diminished access to water caused by drought have forced a number of power plants to ramp down production or acquire waivers to operate with cooling water above regulated temperatures. At least one plant has suspended operations.
Many nuclear plants have struggled this summer with cooling...
Lack of Warning on Drought Reflects Forecasting Flaws
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 17th, 2012
Climate Central: In May, the U.S. Agriculture Department predicted a record corn yield after farmers planted the largest area of corn and soybeans since 1937. Three months later, after a searing drought engulfed a wide swath of the continental U.S., those crops lie in ruin. Despite all of the resources at forecasters' disposal, the worst drought to strike the U.S. in nearly 50 years came on largely without warning across the fields of the Midwest and High Plains during late spring and early summer. Between May 1...
CO2 emissions in US drop to 20-year low; some experts optimistic on global warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 17th, 2012
Associated Press: In a surprising turnaround, the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. has fallen dramatically to its lowest level in 20 years, and government officials say the biggest reason is that cheap and plentiful natural gas has led many power plant operators to switch from dirtier-burning coal.
Many of the world’s leading climate scientists didn’t see the drop coming, in large part because it happened as a result of market forces rather than direct government action against...
Rains come too late to revive drought-stricken U.S. crops
Posted by Reuters: Sam Nelson on August 17th, 2012
Reuters: Dry weather will return to the drought-stricken U.S. Midwest crop region, with corn and soybeans ending their growing season on a negative note after this week's rains proved to be too little too late, an agricultural meteorologist said Friday.
"There were some decent rains in central Illinois and west central Indiana yesterday, but it's too late for corn and too late for most of the bean crop," said Don Keeney, meteorologist for MDA EarthSat Weather.
The worst drought in more than 50 years...
Carbon emissions dropped to a 20-year low
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 17th, 2012
Washington Post: U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide dropped to a 20-year low in July. “In a surprising turnaround, the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. has fallen dramatically to its lowest level in 20 years, and government officials say the biggest reason is that cheap and plentiful natural gas has led many power plant operators to switch from dirtier-burning coal. Many of the world’s leading climate scientists didn’t see the drop coming, in large part because it happened as...
South-east braced for summer heat while rest of country fears floods
Posted by Guardian: Maev Kennedy on August 17th, 2012
Guardian: The hottest days of the year are forecast for London and the south-east this weekend, with temperatures up to 30C on Saturday and Sunday, even higher in places like central London, while the rest of the country squelches through warnings of torrential rain and possible flooding.
The hottest day so far, in what has mostly been a miserable summer, was 30.7C, recorded on 30 July at St James's Park in London. The Met Office believes that could be beaten with temperatures possibly rising to 32C as...